(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-02 16:30

PYONGYANG  -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) lashed out on Sunday at the United States and South Korea for a massive joint military exercise, saying such action is a challenge to peace on the Korean Peninsula.

"All facts clearly prove once again that the United States does not have any idea of dropping its hostile policy toward the DPRK at all," a spokesman for the DPRK army's Panmunjom Mission said in a statement.

The DPRK army "will not stand passively on the defensive but counter it with positive retaliatory strikes by mobilizing all means long built up by the DPRK at a high price," the statement said.

The criticism from the DPRK came on the same day when the United States and South Korea started the exercise, which is code-named "Key Resolve" and will run through Friday.

A great portion of the 650,000-strong South Korean troops and 18,000 US troops are participating in the exercise.